Residents of Kochia ward in Homa Bay County have initiated plans to support the education of vulnerable children.
Through what's dubbed Friends of Education Association, the locals are offering full scholarships for secondary education in boarding county, extra county and national schools.
They have so far supported 73 students. Among them are 30 students who have joined universities and middle colleges, and eight who sat the 2022 KCSE exams. The remaining students are joining forms two next year.
Association chairman Elisha Omala, Secretary Daniel Ogenga, Treasurer Rachel Oyugi and the bursary administrator Alfred Ochiel said they are in the process of selecting students who will be joining Form One next year.
The scholarship programme came up in 2013 after residents realised their children were excelling in exams butt failing to proceed with their education due to lack of school fees. "We wanted to end a tradition where residents seek financial support for the education of their children from individuals who live far away in towns. It has been proven that we can also organise ourselves and support our children," Ogenga said.
According to Omala, the association has raised Sh10.2m for supporting the learners since it started. The money is from their annual subscription and fundraisers. "We get the money through the annual subscription. We also hold fund drives one in a while," Omala said, adding that lack of funds has prevented them from supported all the needy cases.
"We have received more than 30 applications and many more are expected. But it is unfortunate that the funds available can only allow us to sponsor 10 students. We pay their full school fees from Form One to Form Four," Omala said.
He appealed to well-wishers to intervene and support their programme to enable them sponsor more students.
"If we get more support, we will sponsor more students and this will boost education standards in this area," Omala said.
Ms Oyugi said the project had made the local community embrace their neighbour's children, a situation that she says helps instil discipline.
"The programme makes every villager view their neighbours' children as their own because their money supports the children's education. It makes our children belong to the community rather than their individual parents," Oyugi said. She challenged students to work hard in school to enable them support other vulnerable children in future.
Parents expressed hope that the project is transforming their families. Anderson Nyagilo, a resident of Kotieno village said the programme supported his child after he developed kidney problems and could thus no afford.
